Barcelona are rumoured to be after Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho again, with the Blaugrana considering an offer in January. We ask, should Liverpool sell?
A January bid for Coutinho is probably incoming, according to Don Balon. On the face of it, the answer would be no. Coutinho is Liverpool’s best player and a majestic playmaker. When he plays for Liverpool, the Reds play better football.
With Coutinho hovering in that left-wing-but-not-really-left-wing position, everything the Reds do becomes faster, sharper and more stylish. He frees up Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané to fly forward and his interplay with Roberto Firmino is mesmeric to behold.
But here’s the thing: he wants to leave. He feign a “back injury” (that conveniently cleared up when the transfer window shut) in the summer to try and force an exit. Liverpool didn’t budge, but Coutinho’s desire to leave hasn’t gone away.
As we near the January transfer window, more rumours are swirling again and questions are being asked. After Coutinho’s recent Champions League hat-trick, Klopp was asked about his future and answered
Jurgen Klopp used Google to select his @LFC captain tonight
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 6, 2017
Watch all the @ChampionsLeague highlights on @ITV now. pic.twitter.com/ptzZN4Xd3C
“We play outstandingly good football without Phil, to be honest. Although I love this player. As a team you should never rely on one player, if he’s out you don’t know what to do. So, nothing to say – but he was really good tonight.”
Not exactly the same “not for sale” tone he was striking in the summer, is it?
But here’s the thing, while it made sense to rebuff Barcelona in the summer, if the Blaugrana do come back in January with a bumper bid for the Brazilian (or even if it’s a reduced £87m as Don Balon suggest) Liverpool should do the unthinkable and sell their star man.
First thing’s first: this wouldn’t be like Liverpool selling Luis Suárez back in 2014, a transfer that absolutely destroyed Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool team, for two key reasons:
1. Naby Keita arrives at Liverpool in the summer. A staggeringly good midfield talent, it would be hard to squeeze him into the same side as Coutinho, Firmino, Mané and Salah if Liverpool want to retain a semblance of defensive balance. But without Coutinho he slots in nicely and Liverpool can play a dynamic 4-3-3.
2. Liverpool are already well set-up to thrive without him. Yes Coutinho is probably Liverpool’s best player, but it’s only probably. Not the definitely it was in the summer. Why? Because of Mohamed Salah. That’s why.
The Egyptian wing-forward has been an absolute dynamo in red so far this season. He has 19 goals in all competitions, 13 in the Premier League (where he’s top scorer). His miraculous goal opened the scoring in the Merseyside Derby and it was only after he went off that Liverpool lost control of the game.
Due to injury and suspension, Coutinho and Mané have played 1,372 Premier League minutes between them so far this season. Salah meanwhile has managed 1,193 all by himself. The Egyptian has consistently been not only Liverpool’s greatest goal threat but their leading light and driving force.
Salah was also just crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2017. He is going from strength to strength in red, and won’t have any problems stepping up to be the club’s talisman should Coutinho depart.
Meanwhile, selling Coutinho would give Liverpool a huge cash influx that offsets the Naby Keita deal and leaves Liverpool with a money to spend. Given Liverpool’s dire need for a centre-back and a specialist defensive midfielder, that is money that could come in handy to improve the squad as a whole whilst Salah steps up to lead the team.
As ridiculous as it seems, given the overwhelming quality of Mohamed Salah, selling Coutinho is actually smartest decision Liverpool could possibly make right now.
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